Many of us animal lovers simply can’t resist talking to our dogs as a way of showing affection and praise — and a new study suggests that this communication is not only fun for you, but could actually strengthen the bond between human and dog!
While studies have already suggested a greater bond between baby and parent as a consequence of “baby talk,” researchers are finding that this type of high-pitched, affectionate speech has a similar effect on dogs. So, if you find yourself asking your pooch, “who’s been a good dog?” in an exaggerated tone of voice, it’s possible your dog will like you even more.
Researchers from the University of York in the UK, Alex Benjamin and Katie Slocombe, have been studying whether “doggy speak” strengthens the bond between humans and their pets.
Slocombe explains, “a special speech register, known as infant-directed speech, is thought to aid language acquisition and improve the way a human baby bonds with an adult…. This form of speech is known to share some similarities with the way in which humans talk to their pet dogs, known as dog-directed speech.”
“This high-pitched, rhythmic speech is common in human interactions with dogs in Western cultures, but there isn’t a great deal known about whether it benefits a dog in the same way that it does a baby….We wanted to look at this question and see whether social bonding between animals and humans was influenced by the type and content of the communication,” Slocombe says.
The researchers ran two experiments where humans interacted with dogs. In the first experiment, researchers tested the effect of adult-directed speech on dogs where humans spoke to them in a normal tone of voice saying things like, “I went to the cinema.” However, in the second experiment, the dogs were told, “you’re a good dog” and asked, “shall we go for a walk?” in a high-pitched voice.
The dogs were then instructed to choose which speaker they wanted to interact with. And they preferred to interact with humans who used dog-directed speech. Still, it was difficult to tell whether the dogs simply responded to the emotional tone of voice or the content of the speech.
In order to see whether the dogs responded to the high-pitched tone of dog-directed speech or its content, “the content from experiment one was reproduced but with reversed prosody such that the dog-related content was spoken with the prosody of [adult-directed speech] and vice versa,” says Benjamin.
Benjamin concludes that “adult dogs were more likely to want to interact and spend time with the speaker that used dog-directed speech with dog-related content than they did those that used adult-directed speech with no dog-related content… [which] suggests that adult dogs need to hear dog-relevant words spoken in a high-pitched emotional voice in order to find it relevant.”
You can find their research paper, “Who’s a Good Boy?” published in the Journal Animal Cognition.
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A great read!
J’ai toujours parler avec mes animaux il me conprene
Talk to my six bunnies ALL THE TIME..They all know their names and can read intent quite well.
I have one that thinks he rules the house. He hates being picked up so i have to use a box with doors cut into, that he voluntarily hops into when it is his turn to run loose, to move him from his enclosure to the bunny run and common room.
IF we move other rabbits into “his room” like when we are cleaning the common room..he goes ballistic! That is HIS room. He is allowed to go into the room of the other bunnies but they are NOT allowed in his.
These little ones have NO PROBLEM communicating despite their not being vocal animals.
Diane I know just how you feel. When I finally faced the fact I was going to have to put down my baby Star after 16 years I asked her, with help from an animal communicator, what she wanted me to do. She said Keep Rescuing. And each morning as I get up and see her picture right beside my bed I tell her I still love her and thank her for sending me the three rescued babies who now cuddle with me.
Vindicated! Now I don’t have to defend myself when people criticise me for chatting to my babies.
There are more people that talk to animals than we think. I’ve communicated with all my pets, from hamsters to dogs, even my fish!! It makes me feel part of their lives. SAD?? Nope just happy & my husband talks to the dogs after they’ve died!! Happy & crazy. ??????
to do it
I always used dog directed speech in high pitched tone when talking to my dog or any dog really . I knew I was right tond o it. ????
I am very fun of animals and small children. They love you and take you as you are. A lot of adults do not enjoy each day they are given because they are too serious. Life is too short. We need to live each day as if today is our last day. We all need to let the child inside us out. We need to live every day that the Good Lord gives us and never take it for granted. Enjoy every day you are given and love those that love you, whether it is man of animal.
People can scoff all they like about this subject, however two years ago I had to say goodbye to my darling old Boxer girl, the last dog I will ever have, as a senior lady who cannot walk much now its not fair on the dog, anyway I had a physic reading from a person who specialises in animals, and out of the blue they said “Lady wants you to keep talking to her!” I was dumbfounded, as she is in her Urn in the lounge room looking after the cat and I, when I walk past sometimes I stop and have a chat!!! No-one else knows this, so I shall keep doing it. When you are on your own, animals keep your sanity!!!!